This invention relates to methods for preparing tungsten films on integrated circuits, for example. The invention is particularly useful for applications that require thin tungsten films having low electrical resistance.
The deposition of tungsten films using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques is an integral part of many semiconductor fabrication processes. The tungsten films may be used to produce low resistivity electrical connections in the form of horizontal interconnects, vias between adjacent metal layers, and contacts between a first metal layer and the devices on the silicon substrate. In a conventional tungsten deposition process, the wafer is heated to the process temperature in a vacuum chamber, and then a very thin portion of tungsten film, which serves as a seed or nucleation layer, is deposited. Thereafter, the remainder of the tungsten film (the bulk layer) is deposited on the nucleation layer. Conventionally, the bulk layer is formed by the reduction of tungsten hexafluoride (WF6) with hydrogen (H2) on the growing tungsten layer. The bulk layer is generally deposited more rapidly than the nucleation layer, but cannot be produced easily and reliably without first forming the nucleation layer.
Various deposition methods can be used to form a thin tungsten nucleation layer. These include a CVD technique and a pulsed nucleation layer (PNL) technique. In a CVD technique, the WF6 and reducing gas (e.g., SiH4 and/or H2) are simultaneously introduced into the reaction chamber. This produces a continuous chemical reaction of mixed reactant gases that continuously forms tungsten film on the substrate surface. In a typical example, CVD nucleation layers are deposited from WF6-SiH4 with an argon carrier gas. In some instances, CVD nucleation performance is enhanced by the presence of H2 in carrier gas mixture. Note that the WF6-SiH4 reaction is much faster than the WF6-H2 reaction due to lower activation energy and greater reactivity.
In a PNL technique, pulses of the reducing agent, purge gases, and tungsten-containing precursors are sequentially injected into and purged from the reaction chamber. The process is repeated in a cyclical fashion until the desired thickness is achieved. PNL is similar to atomic layer deposition techniques reported in the literature. PNL is generally distinguished from atomic layer deposition (ALD) by its higher operating pressure range (greater than 1 Torr) and its higher growth rate per cycle (greater than 1 monolayer film growth per cycle). In the context of this invention, PNL broadly embodies any cyclical process of sequentially adding reactants for reaction on a semiconductor substrate. Thus, the concept embodies techniques conventionally referred to as ALD.
Tungsten processes should also produce films with low resitivity. Advancing technology requires that tungsten electrical connects be increasing thin yet maintain very low resistance. Hence, it is critical that tungsten deposition process provide tungsten having very low resistivity. For many semiconductor fabrication applications, the tungsten film should have a resistivity of about 30 μΩ-cm or less. It is also essential that the deposited tungsten integrate well with other components of the device. Hence it should have good adhesion to underlying materials in the device.
What are therefore needed are improved methods for forming low resistivity tungsten films.